Source: The News (TNS), 1 November 2026 — “World Culture Festival Karachi ’26 brings artists from across the globe to the city by the sea” — https://www.thenews.pk/tns/detail/1446110-world-culture-festival-karachi-26-brings-artists-from-across-the-globe-to-the-city-by-the-sea
Karachi is hosting the third edition of the World Culture Festival, and Hamza Akram Qawwal & Brothers were part of its opening day.
The festival, launched by the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi on 29 October 2026 in partnership with GEO, runs until 22 November and brings together more than 1,000 international artists from 150 countries alongside over 500 Pakistani artists. Its programme spans music, theatre, dance, film and fine arts — and the opening day set the pattern, with a hip-hop dance performance by French group Zigzag followed by a qawwali night with Hamza Akram Qawwal and Brothers.
The scale builds on the previous edition, which concluded in December 2025 after a 39-day run and hosted more than 1,000 artists from 142 countries. Speaking at a press conference, Arts Council Karachi president Mohammad Ahmed Shah highlighted the festival’s international reach, with artists expected from countries including the United States, Russia, Iran and Ukraine, alongside Palestinian theatre groups and artists from Latin America.
For local audiences, the festival is a rare chance to experience performance traditions that do not regularly reach Karachi’s stages, while giving Pakistani artists a platform beside visiting performers. Around 85 percent of the programmes are free, though registration is required.
That the opening day’s music was a qawwali night is worth noting. In a festival built on cultural exchange, the brothers’ performance was Karachi’s own contribution to the opening — a centuries-old tradition presented to artists and audiences from around the world, on the city’s biggest cultural stage.
This post is a rephrased summary of The News’ report of 1 November 2026, shared here for our press archive. Read the original at the link above.
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